Our bodies and minds are one. Physical health and mental health are inextricably bound together. But we can easily lose sight of how poorly and infrequently this basic truth is reflected in the systems we’ve developed to care for ourselves and one another.

David Lakey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Population Health, and Andy Keller, CEO of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, argue that the state has an historic opportunity to reform the state hospital system.

All 14 institutions of The University of Texas System will be tobacco free by the end of this academic year, making it the first public university system in Texas to become fully tobacco free. It will also become the largest single employer in Texas to prohibit tobacco use in the workplace.

Our bodies and minds are one. Physical health and mental health are inextricably bound together. But we can easily lose sight of how poorly and infrequently this basic truth is reflected in the systems we’ve developed to care for ourselves and one another.

In a hearing last week before the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, Associate Vice Chancellor for Population Health David Lakey testified about ways the state could involve its institutions of higher learning in improving and modernizing the state hospital system